A Day of My Life in Pictures | February 2016

Well, lookit me, doing a ‘Day of My Life in Pictures’ post just one month after the last one!

If I keep this up, I will, indeed, fulfil my ambition of documenting a day from each month in the year, so that when I’m old and cranky (Wait: I’m already quite old and cranky. Why am I doing this, again?), I’ll be able to look back and say, “Ah, remember that day I walked the dog and had pasta for dinner! Those were the days!” (That was a MAJOR spoiler for the rest of the post, by the way…)

So, the day in question was Monday, February 8th, and honestly, it wasn’t very interesting. Quite a few people I know seem to have had a pretty rough start to the year, though, ourselves included, and when we’ve been talking to them about the various Bad Things that have happened, one thing that’s come up a lot is the fact that we only really appreciate the normal, day-to-day stuff when something happens that MAKES you appreciate it – and that’s a real shame, really. So while I was joking in my first paragraph about looking back on these ordinary days with fondness, I DO genuinely think it’s nice to be able to do that, and to view them as the gifts they are, you know?

That was WAY too soppy for a Monday morning, wasn’t it? Here’s my day in pictures…

I’m up! I’m either waving to you all, or welcoming our new alien overlords to the world: you decide!*

(*It was totally the alien overlords…)

The weather is so sunny I almost weep with joy, but while I’m getting into my usual workout gear, it abruptly changes to this:

Ah. So it’s going to be like THAT, is it Monday? Still, the sun is still there, so with hope in my heart, I head down to the kitchen to make some coffee…

Last night as I was going to bed, I had an idea for a blog post, which I was too tired to go and write down, so I just crossed my fingers and hoped I’d remember it in the morning. Unusually for me, I DID remember it in the morning, so I spend a bit of time brainstorming over coffee, while Rubin eats his breakfast. When I have ideas for blog posts, I normally just open up a new post in WordPress, and then save it as a draft, but for some reason I’ve been writing a lot in my notebook lately, a bit like people did in the olden days. So retro!

In my last ‘Day of My Life in Photos’ post I got into my workout clothes but didn’t actually work out in them. It would be super-embarrassing if that happened again, obviously, because then you’d think I did that EVERY day, and even although you would be right about that, the knowledge that you’re all going to be watching this day prompts me to get my running shoes on, and ACTUALLY go for a run.

(I suspect the fact that the documenting-of-the-day has now influenced the day being documented is probably breaking some kind of fundamental rule of the universe or something, a bit like when Marty McFly went back in time, and started changing things to suit himself, even although he’d been specifically told NOT to do that. I just hope I haven’t altered history or something?)

Anyway, this was my first time running outdoors since, like, October or something, and seeing as the sun decided to come back out again, it was actually quite pleasant, and I came back all, “YES! I will totally run every day from now on!” Yeah, let’s see how that goes…

Once I’m home, I head straight to the shower, which, in this post, is being represented by my toothbrush:

(Er, I feel I have to add here that I DID clean my teeth when I got up: I just couldn’t think of anything else to represent “shower”. Other than the ACTUAL shower, obviously, which, you know, WET.)

(I have a ‘Canada’ toothmug, because I have Canadian relatives. Go Canucks! Or something.)

I seem to get most of my ideas when I’m in the shower (which is super-annoying, because I can’t write them down in there. If someone could invent me a waterproof notebook and pen, that would be awesome, thanks.), so when I get out, I spend a bit of time scribbling in my notebook again while I’m doing my hair and makeup. I’m not sure quite what’s going on here, but after a few weeks of feeling totally un-inspired, I’m suddenly bursting with ideas again, which is nice, and makes me feel more like myself again. Whatever the reason is, I’m not complaining…

I then spend approximately the rest of my life trying to take a mirror selfie, to prove that I’m a) dressed and b) alive, but succeed only in proving that I’m a) really grumpy looking and b) absolutely useless at taking mirror selfies, WHY?

With that out of the way, I’ve basically lost the will to live, and also decided that I’m never wearing flats ever again, for as long as I live, because seriously legs, why so stumpy? I have to exchange them for wellies anyway, though, because it’s time to walk Rubin:

And then it’s time to WASH Rubin, because he decides it’s a good idea to plunge right into a muddy puddle halfway through his walk:

He’s looking surprisingly pleased with himself, for an animal who would later have to be showered, because my attempt to clean the worst of the mud off his feet failed, and resulted in a trail of muddy paw prints all the way along the hall. Thanks, Rubin!

With both the carpet and Rubin fully scrubbed, I decide to make some coffee and eat some lunch, but while the kettle is boiling, I realise I’ve mislaid my phone. A search of the entire house ensues, and when it fails to turn up the missing phone, I end up having to call myself from the landline, and then creep around the house, listening for the faint sound of vibrations – because obviously the ringer is switched to silent, isn’t it?

Just as I’m starting to panic, and assume I’ve dropped it at some point while I was out, I finally find it… in the kitchen. Next to the kettle. The kettle which I had JUST switched on when I realised the phone was missing. No, I have NO IDEA how I managed it.

Which brings me to lunch:

I share this plate of Tesco’s finest sushi with Terry, then settle in to work for the afternoon:

Somewhat unusually, I don’t have any blog photos to take today, and I’m busy working on the ShoeperWoman revamp, so I’m basically going to be at my desk for the rest of the day now. This is actually a pretty typical day for me, in that I tend to work out, walk the dog and take care of any errands I have to run in the morning, then work all afternoon/evening. Because I’m not a morning person (and also because I have to do the running/walking etc during daylight hours, and before I have a shower – well, there’s not much point in showering and THEN going for a run, is there?) that works for me, but it doesn’t make for a very exciting end to this post, unfortunately: whoops!

We do break for dinner:

…and then we watch TV for an hour or so, after which our friend Linsey pops round to pick up a parcel we’d taken in for her, and stays for a chat. After that, though, it’s right back to work: which I didn’t bother taking any photos to document, because it was dark by then and, well, there’s only so many photos of my desk you can look at, right?

Right now, as well as the ShoeperWoman re-vamp, I’m also preparing for my holiday by trying to write some blog posts in advance, so it’s a particularly busy time for me, which meant I didn’t get to bed until after 1am again. I DID, however, remember to take a photo of my night-time routine this time:

I mean, I’m calling it a “routine”, but it’s actually a pretty poor one, because I’ve been trying to use up the products I have before buying new ones (the facial scrub, for instance, was in a Birchbox ages ago, and I’ve only just gotten around to trying it), and it’s made me a bit lazy about stocking up on the stuff I actually NEED – like eye cream, for instance. SEND EYE CREAM, someone! Also Lindy Bop dresses, because I NEED those too…

And that was my day in pictures!

P.S. For those of you who voted in my ‘Pick My Next Dress’ poll, the winner was… SHAY! Unfortunately, however, since I wrote the post, it seems Shay has been a popular girl, and has sold out in my size – boo! As it happens, though, Shay won by only two votes: the runner-up was Jemma, who IS still in stock, so that’s the dress I’ll be ordering. Thanks to everyone who voted!